Device, method, and storage medium storing program

ABSTRACT

According to an aspect, a device includes a touch screen display and a controller. The touch screen display displays a lock screen including an application icon associated with an application. The controller adds an information icon to the application icon when there is new information with respect to the application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Japanese Application No.2011-219570, filed on Oct. 3, 2011, and Japanese Application No.2012-221195, filed on Oct. 3, 2012, the contents of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present application relates to a device, a method, and a storagemedium storing therein a program. More particularly, the presentapplication relates to a device including a touch screen display, amethod of controlling the device, and a storage medium storing therein aprogram for controlling the device.

2. Description of the Related Art

A touch screen device having a touch screen display has been known.Examples of the touch screen devices include, but are not limited to, asmartphone and a tablet. The touch screen device detects a gesture of afinger, a pen, or a stylus pen through the touch screen display. Then,the touch screen device operates according to the detected gesture. Anexample of the operation according to the detected gesture is describedin, for example, International Publication Pamphlet No. 2008/086302.

The basic operation of the touch screen device is implemented by anoperating system (OS) built into the device. Examples of the OS builtinto the touch screen device include, but are not limited to, Android,BlackBerry OS, iOS, Symbian OS, and Windows Phone.

Many of touch screen devices have a lock function so as to preventerroneous operations or the like. The touch screen device executes alock function to display a lock screen on the touch screen displayduring a locked state. On the lock screen, operations other than a setoperation are invalidated. Therefore, the touch screen device canprevent erroneous operations during the locked state by executing thelock function.

The touch screen device unlocks the locked state when an unlockoperation is detected in the locked state. Therefore, when a userexecutes a desired application in a locked state, the user inputs anunlock operation, selects an application, and executes the selectedapplication. Accordingly, for example, even when the user just checksthe number of new information with respect to the application and thecontent of the new information, it is necessary for the user to performthe unlock operation. Examples of the number of pieces of the newinformation include the number of newly arriving mails, or the number ofmissed calls, and the like, and examples of the content of the newinformation include a sender or a received date and time of a mail, or acaller or a date and time of an incoming call, and the like. Asdescribed above, the above-mentioned touch screen device has lowoperability and convenience in the locked state.

For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a device, a method, and aprogram that provide the user with high operability and convenience inthe locked state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect, a device includes a touch screen display and acontroller. The touch screen display displays a lock screen including anapplication icon associated with an application. The controller adds aninformation icon to the application icon when there is new informationwith respect to the application.

According to another aspect, a method is for controlling a device havinga touch screen display. The method includes: displaying a lock screen,including an application icon associated with an application, on thetouch screen display; and adding an information icon to the applicationicon when there is new information with respect to the application.

According to another aspect, a non-transitory storage medium stores aprogram. When executed by a device having a touch screen display, theprogram causes the device to execute: displaying a lock screen,including an application icon associated with an application, on thetouch screen display; and adding an information icon to the applicationicon when there is new information with respect to the application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a smartphone according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the smartphone;

FIG. 3 is a back view of the smartphone;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a home screen;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the smartphone;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a lock screen;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control duringdisplaying the lock screen;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control duringdisplaying the lock screen;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control duringdisplaying the lock screen;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen incase a text editor application is executed;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a control that isperformed in a locked state;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a procedure of acontrol that is performed in a locked state;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control duringdisplaying the lock screen;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating procedures of a control that isperformed in a locked state;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control duringdisplaying the lock screen;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a control that isperformed in a locked state;

FIG. 17A is a diagram illustrating an example of the lock screen;

FIG. 17B is a diagram illustrating an example of the lock screen;

FIG. 17C is a diagram illustrating an example of the lock screen;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of an icon setting screen;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a control for settingup display content of the lock screen;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a control for settingup display content of the lock screen;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control for setting updisplay content of the lock screen; and

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a control for settingup display content of the lock screen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained indetail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A smartphonewill be explained below as an example of a device provided with a touchscreen display.

An overall configuration of a smartphone 1 according to an embodimentwill be explained below with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. Asillustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the smartphone 1 includes a housing 20.The housing 20 includes a front face 1A, a back face 1B, and side faces1C1 to 1C4. The front face 1A is a front of the housing 20. The backface 1B is a back of the housing 20. The side faces 1C1 to 1C4 are sideseach connecting the front face 1A and the back face 1B. Hereinafter, theside faces 1C1 to 1C4 may be collectively called “side face 1C” withoutbeing specific to any of the side faces.

The smartphone 1 includes a touch screen display 2, buttons 3A to 3C, anillumination (ambient light) sensor 4, a proximity sensor 5, a receiver7, a microphone 8, and a camera 12, which are provided in the front face1A. The smartphone 1 includes a camera 13, which is provided in the backface 1B. The smartphone 1 includes buttons 3D to 3F and a connector 14,which are provided in the side face 1C. Hereinafter, the buttons 3A to3F may be collectively called “button 3” without being specific to anyof the buttons.

The touch screen display 2 includes a display 2A and a touch screen 2B.In the example of FIG. 1, each of the display 2A and the touch screen 2Bis approximately rectangular-shaped; however, the shapes of the display2A and the touch screen 2B are not limited thereto. Each of the display2A and the touch screen 2B may have any shape such as a square, a circleor the like. In the example of FIG. 1, the display 2A and the touchscreen 2B are arranged in a superimposed manner; however, the manner inwhich the display 2A and the touch screen 2B are arranged is not limitedthereto. The display 2A and the touch screen 2B may be arranged, forexample, side by side or apart from each other. In the example of FIG.1, longer sides of the display 2A are along with longer sides of thetouch screen 2B respectively while shorter sides of the display 2A arealong with shorter sides of the touch screen 2B respectively; however,the manner in which the display 2A and the touch screen 2B aresuperimposed is not limited thereto. In case the display 2A and thetouch screen 2B are arranged in the superimposed manner, they can bearranged such that, for example, one or more sides of the display 2A arenot along with any sides of the touch screen 2B.

The display 2A is provided with a display device such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD), an organic electro-luminescence display (GELD),or an inorganic electro-luminescence display (IELD). The display 2Adisplays text, images, symbols, graphics, and the like.

The touch screen 2B detects a contact of a finger, a pen, a stylus pen,or the like on the touch screen 2B. The touch screen 2B can detectpositions where a plurality of fingers, pens, stylus pens, or the likemake contact with the touch screen 2B. In the description herein below,a finger, pen, stylus pen, and the like may be referred to as a “contactobject” or an “object”.

The detection method of the touch screen 2B may be any detectionmethods, including but not limited to, a capacitive type detectionmethod, a resistive type detection method, a surface acoustic wave type(or ultrasonic type) detection method, an infrared type detectionmethod, an electro magnetic induction type detection method, and a loadsensing type detection method. In the description herein below, for thesake of simplicity, it is assumed that the user uses his/her finger(s)to make contact with the touch screen 2B in order to operate thesmartphone 1.

The smartphone 1 determines a type of a gesture based on at least one ofa contact detected by the touch screen 2B, a position where the contactis detected, a change of a position where the contact is detected, aninterval between detected contacts, and the number of detection times ofthe contact. The gesture is an operation performed on the touch screen2B. Examples of the gestures determined by the smartphone 1 include, butare not limited to, touch, long touch, release, swipe, tap, double tap,long tap, drag, flick, pinch in, and pinch out.

“Touch” is a gesture in which a finger makes contact with the touchscreen 2B. The smartphone 1 determines a gesture in which the fingermakes contact with the touch screen 2B as touch. “Long touch” is agesture in which a finger makes contact with the touch screen 2B forlonger than a given time. The smartphone 1 determines a gesture in whichthe finger makes contact with the touch screen 2B for longer than agiven time as long touch.

“Release” is a gesture in which a finger separates from the touch screen2B. The smartphone 1 determines a gesture in which the finger separatesfrom the touch screen 2B as release. “Swipe” is a gesture in which afinger moves on the touch screen 2B with continuous contact thereon. Thesmartphone 1 determines a gesture in which the finger moves on the touchscreen 2B with continuous contact thereon as swipe.

“Tap” is a gesture in which a touch is followed by a release. Thesmartphone 1 determines a gesture in which a touch is followed by arelease as tap. “Double tap” is a gesture such that a gesture in which atouch is followed by a release is successively performed twice. Thesmartphone 1 determines a gesture such that a gesture in which a touchis followed by a release is successively performed twice as double tap.

“Long tap” is a gesture in which a long touch is followed by a release.The smartphone 1 determines a gesture in which a long touch is followedby a release as long tap. “Drag” is a gesture in which a swipe isperformed from an area where a movable-object is displayed. Thesmartphone 1 determines a gesture in which a swipe is performed from anarea where the movable-object displayed as drag.

“Flick” is a gesture in which a finger separates from the touch screen2B while moving after making contact with the touch screen 2B. That is,“Flick” is a gesture in which a touch is followed by a releaseaccompanied with a movement of the finger. The smartphone 1 determines agesture in which the finger separates from the touch screen 2B whilemoving after making contact with the touch screen 2B as flick. The flickis performed, in many cases, with a finger moving along one direction.The flick includes “upward flick” in which the finger moves upward onthe screen, “downward flick” in which the finger moves downward on thescreen, “rightward flick” in which the finger moves rightward on thescreen, and “leftward flick” in which the finger moves leftward on thescreen, and the like. Movement of the finger during the flick is, inmany cases, quicker than that of the finger during the swipe.

“Pinch in” is a gesture in which a swipe with a plurality of fingers isperformed in a direction to move the fingers toward each other. Thesmartphone 1 determines a gesture in which the distance between aposition of one finger and a position of another finger detected by thetouch screen 2B becomes shorter as pinch in. “Pinch out” is a gesture inwhich a swipe with a plurality of fingers is performed in a direction tomove the fingers away from each other. The smartphone 1 determines agesture in which the distance between a position of one finger and aposition of another finger detected by the touch screen 2B becomeslonger as pinch out.

In the description herein below, a gesture performed by using a fingermay be referred to as a “single touch gesture”, and a gesture performedby using a plurality of fingers may be referred to as a “multi touchgesture”. Examples of the multi touch gesture include a pinch in and apinch out. A tap, a flick, a swipe, and the like are a single touchgesture when performed by using a finger, and are a multi touch gesturewhen performed by using a plurality of fingers.

The smartphone 1 performs operations according to these gestures whichare determined through the touch screen 2B. Therefore, user-friendly andintuitive operability is achieved. The operations performed by thesmartphone 1 according to the determined gestures may be differentdepending on the screen displayed on the display 2A. In the followingexplanation, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the fact thatthe touch screen detects the contact(s) and then the smartphonedetermines the type of the gesture as X based on the contact(s) may besimply described as “the smartphone detects X” or “the controllerdetects X”.

An example of the screen displayed on the display 2A will be explainedbelow with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 represents an example of a homescreen. The home screen may also be called “desktop”, “standby screen”,“idle screen”, or “standard screen”. The home screen is displayed on thedisplay 2A. The home screen is a screen allowing the user to selectwhich one of applications (programs) installed in the smartphone 1 isexecuted. The smartphone 1 executes the application selected on the homescreen in the foreground. The screen of the application executed in theforeground is displayed on the display 2A in a different manner fromthat of the home screen.

Icons can be arranged on the home screen of the smartphone 1. Aplurality of icons 50 are arranged on a home screen 40 illustrated inFIG. 4. Each of the icons 50 is previously associated with anapplication installed in the smartphone 1. When detecting a gesture foran icon 50, the smartphone 1 executes the application associated withthe icon 50 for which the gesture is detected. For example, whendetecting a tap on an icon 50 associated with a mail application, thesmartphone 1 executes the mail application.

The icons 50 include an image and a character string. The icons 50 maycontain a symbol or a graphic instead of an image. The icons 50 do nothave to include either one of the image and the character string. Theicons 50 are arranged based on a layout pattern. A wall paper 41 isdisplayed behind the icons 50. The wall paper may sometimes be called“photo screen”, “back screen”, “idle image”, or “background image”. Thesmartphone 1 can use an arbitrary image as the wall paper 41. Thesmartphone 1 may be configured so that the user can select an image tobe displayed as the wall paper 41.

The smartphone 1 can include a plurality of home screens. The smartphone1 determines, for example, the number of home screens according tosetting by the user. The smartphone 1 displays a selected one on thedisplay 2A even if there is a plurality of home screens.

The smartphone 1 displays an indicator (a locator) 51 on the homescreen. The indicator 51 includes one or more symbols. The number of thesymbols is the same as that of the home screens. In the indicator 51, asymbol corresponding to a home screen that is currently displayed isdisplayed in a different manner from that of symbols corresponding tothe other home screens.

The indicator 51 in an example illustrated in FIG. 4 includes foursymbols. This means the number of home screens is four. According to theindicator 51 in the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the second symbolfrom the left is displayed in a different manner from that of the othersymbols. This means that the second home screen from the left iscurrently displayed.

The smartphone 1 can change a home screen to be displayed on the display2A. When a gesture is detected while displaying one of home screens, thesmartphone 1 changes the home screen to be displayed on the display 2Ato another one. For example, when detecting a rightward flick, thesmartphone 1 changes the home screen to be displayed on the display 2Ato a home screen on the left side. For example, when detecting aleftward flick, the smartphone 1 changes the home screen to be displayedon the display 2A to a home screen on the right side. The smartphone 1changes the home screen to be displayed on the display 2A from a firsthome screen to a second home screen, when a gesture is detected whiledisplaying the first home screen, such that the area of the first homescreen displayed on the display 2A gradually becomes smaller and thearea of the second home screen displayed gradually becomes larger. Thesmartphone 1 may switch the home screens such that the first home screenis instantly replaced by the second home screen.

An area 42 is provided along the top edge of the display 2A. Displayedon the area 42 are a remaining mark 43 indicating a remaining amount ofa power supply and a radio-wave level mark 44 indicating an electricfield strength of radio wave for communication. The smartphone 1 maydisplay time, weather, an application during execution thereof, a typeof communication system, a status of a phone call, a mode of the device,an event occurring in the device, and the like in the area 42. In thismanner, the area 42 is used to inform the user of various notifications.The area 42 may be provided on any screen other than the home screen 40.A position where the area 42 is provided is not limited to the top edgeof the display 2A.

The home screen 40 illustrated in FIG. 4 is only an example, andtherefore the configuration of each of elements, the arrangement of theelements, the number of home screens 40, the way to perform each ofoperations on the home screen 40, and the like do not have to be likethe above mentioned explanation.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the smartphone 1. The smartphone 1 includesthe touch screen display 2, the button 3, the illumination sensor 4, theproximity sensor 5, a communication unit 6, the receiver 7, themicrophone 8, a storage 9, a controller 10, the cameras 12 and 13, theconnector 14, an acceleration sensor 15, a direction (orientation)sensor 16, and a gyroscope 17.

The touch screen display 2 includes, as explained above, the display 2Aand the touch screen 2B. The display 2A displays text, images, symbols,graphics, or the like. The touch screen 2B detects contact(s). Thecontroller 10 detects a gesture performed for the smartphone 1.Specifically, the controller 10 detects an operation (a gesture) for thetouch screen 2B in cooperation with the touch screen 2B.

The button 3 is operated by the user. The button 3 includes buttons 3Ato 3F. The controller 10 detects an operation for the button 3 incooperation with the button 3. Examples of the operations for the button3 include, but are not limited to, a click, a double click, a tripleclick, a push, and a multi-push.

The buttons 3A to 3C are, for example, a home button, a back button, ora menu button. The button 3D is, for example, a power on/off button ofthe smartphone 1. The button 3D may function also as a sleep/sleeprelease button. The buttons 3E and 3F are, for example, volume buttons.

The illumination sensor 4 detects illumination of the ambient light ofthe smartphone 1. The illumination indicates intensity of light,lightness, or brightness. The illumination sensor 4 is used, forexample, to adjust the brightness of the display 2A. The proximitysensor 5 detects the presence of a nearby object without any physicalcontact. The proximity sensor 5 detects the presence of the object basedon a change of the magnetic field, a change of the return time of thereflected ultrasonic wave, etc. The proximity sensor 5 detects that, forexample, the touch screen display 2 is brought close to someone's face.The illumination sensor 4 and the proximity sensor 5 may be configuredas one sensor. The illumination sensor 4 can be used as a proximitysensor.

The communication unit 6 performs communication via radio waves. Acommunication system supported by the communication unit 6 is wirelesscommunication standard. The wireless communication standard includes,for example, a communication standard of cellar phones such as 2G, 3G,and 4G. The communication standard of cellar phones includes, forexample, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Wideband Code Division MultipleAccess (W-CDMA), CDMA 2000, a Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM), and a Personal Handy-phoneSystem (PHS). The wireless communication standard further includes, forexample, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), IEEE802.11, Bluetooth, Infrared Data. Association (IrDA), and Near FieldCommunication (NFC). The communication unit 6 may support one or morecommunication standards.

The receiver 7 is a sound output unit. The receiver 7 outputs a soundsignal transmitted from the controller 10 as sound. The receiver 7 isused, for example, to output voice of the other party on the phone. Themicrophone 8 is a sound input unit. The microphone 8 converts speech ofthe user or the like to a sound signal and transmit the converted signalto the controller 10. The smartphone 1 may be provided with a speakerinstead of, or in addition to, the receiver 7.

The storage 9 stores therein programs and data. The storage 9 is usedalso as a work area that temporarily stores a processing result of thecontroller 10. The storage 9 may include any non-transitory storagemedium such as a semiconductor storage medium and a magnetic storagemedium. The storage 9 may include a plurality type of storage mediums.The storage 9 may include a combination of a portable storage mediumsuch as a memory card, an optical disc, or a magneto-optical disc with areader of the storage medium. The storage 9 may include a storage deviceused as a temporary storage area such as Random Access Memory (RAM).

The programs stored in the storage 9 include applications executed inthe foreground or in the background and a control program for assistingoperations of the applications. The application causes, for example, apredetermined screen to be displayed on the display 2A, and thecontroller to perform a process according to a gesture detected throughthe touch screen 2B. The control program is, for example, an OS. Theapplication and the control program may be installed in the storage 9through communication by the communication unit 6 or through anon-transitory storage medium.

The storage 9 stores therein, for example, a control program 9A, a mailapplication 9B, a browser application 9C, and setting data 9Z. The mailapplication 9B provides an e-mail function for composing, transmitting,receiving, and displaying e-mail, and the like. The browser application9C provides a WEB browsing function for displaying WEB pages. Thesetting data 9Z contains information related to various settings on theoperations of the smartphone 1.

The control program 9A provides a function related to various controlfor operating the smartphone 1. The control program 9A controls, forexample, the communication unit 6, the receiver 7, and the microphone 8to make a phone call. The function provided by the control program 9Aincludes functions for performing various control such as changing ascreen displayed on the display 2A according to gestures detectedthrough the touch screen 2B while the locked state is set. The functionsprovided by the control program 9A can be used in combination with afunction provided by the other program such as the mail application 9B.

The storage 9 stores therein, for example, a control program 9A, a mailapplication 9B, a browser application 9C, and setting data 9Z. The mailapplication 9B provides an e-mail function for composing, transmitting,receiving, and displaying e-mail, and the like. The browser application9C provides a WEB browsing function for displaying WEB pages. Thesetting data 9Z contains information related to various settings on theoperations of a smartphone 1.

The control program 9A provides a function related to various controlsfor operating the smartphone 1. The control program 9A controls, forexample, the communication unit 6, the receiver 7, and the microphone 8to make a phone call. The function provided by the control program 9Aincludes functions for performing various controls such as changing ascreen displayed on the display 2A according to gestures detectedthrough the touch screen 2B while the locked state is set. The functionsprovided by the control program 9A can be used in combination with afunction provided by the other program such as the mail application 9B.

The controller 10 is a processing unit. Examples of the processing unitsinclude, but are not limited to, a Central Processing Unit (CPU),System-on-a-chip (SoC), a Micro Control Unit (MCU), and aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The controller 10 integrallycontrols the operations of the smartphone 1 to implement variousfunctions.

Specifically, the controller 10 executes instructions contained in theprogram stored in the storage 9 while referring to the data stored inthe storage 9 as necessary. The controller 10 controls a function unitaccording to the data and the instructions to thereby implement thevarious functions. Examples of the function units include, but are notlimited to, the display 2A, the communication unit 6, and the receiver7. The controller 10 can change the control of the function unitaccording to the detection result of a detector. Examples of thedetectors include, but are not limited to, the touch screen 2B, thebutton 3, the illumination sensor 4, the proximity sensor 5, themicrophone 8, the camera 12, the camera 13, the acceleration sensor 15,the direction sensor 16, and the gyroscope 17.

The controller 10 executes, for example, the control program 9A toperform various controls, such as a control for changing informationdisplayed on the display 2A in accordance with the gesture detectedthrough the touch screen 2B.

The camera 12 is an in-camera for photographing an object facing thefront face 1A. The camera 13 is an out-camera for photographing anobject facing the back face 1B.

The connector 14 is a terminal to which other device is connected. Theconnector 14 may be a general-purpose terminal such as a UniversalSerial Bus (USB), a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), LightPeak (Thunderbolt), and an earphone/microphone connector. The connector14 may be a dedicated terminal such as a dock connector. Examples of thedevices connected to the connector 14 include, but are not limited to,an external storage device, a speaker, and a communication device.

The acceleration sensor 15 detects a direction and a magnitude ofacceleration applied to the smartphone 1. The direction sensor 16detects a direction of geomagnetism. The gyroscope 17 detects an angleand an angular velocity of the smartphone 1. The detection results ofthe acceleration sensor 15, the direction sensor 16, and the gyroscope17 are used in combination with each other in order to detect a positionof the smartphone 1 and a change of its attitude.

Part or all of the programs and the data stored in the storage 9 in FIG.5 may be downloaded from any other device through communication by thecommunication unit 6. Part or all of the programs and the data stored inthe storage 9 in FIG. 5 may be stored in the non-transitory storagemedium that can be read by the reader included in the storage 9. Part orall of the programs and the data stored in the storage 9 in FIG. 5 maybe stored in the non-transitory storage medium that can be read by areader connected to the connector 14. Examples of the non-transitorystorage mediums include, but are not limited to, an optical disc such asCD, DVD, and Blu-ray, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic storage medium, amemory card, and solid-state storage medium.

The configuration of the smartphone 1 illustrated in FIG. 5 is only anexample, and therefore it can be modified as required within a scopethat does not depart from the gist of the present invention. Forexample, the number and the type of the button 3 are not limited to theexample of FIG. 5. The smartphone 1 may be provided with buttons of anumeric keypad layout or a QWERTY layout and so on as buttons foroperation of the screen instead of the buttons 3A to 3C. The smartphone1 may be provided with only one button to operate the screen, or with nobutton. In the example of FIG. 5, the smartphone 1 is provided with twocameras; however, the smartphone 1 may be provided with only one cameraor with no camera. In the example of FIG. 5, the smartphone 1 isprovided with three types of sensors in order to detect its position andattitude; however, the smartphone 1 does not have to be provided withsome of the sensors. Alternatively, the smartphone 1 may be providedwith any other type of sensor for detecting at least one of the positionand the attitude.

An example of the control based on the functions provided by the controlprogram 9A will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 22. Thefunction provided by the control program 9A includes a function forchanging the screen displayed on the display 2A according to gesturesdetected through the touch screen 2B while the locked state is set.Hereinafter, an example of a control performed according to userinstructions while the locked state is set will be described.

An example of the lock screen will be described with reference to FIG.6. The lock screen is displayed on the display 2A while the locked stateis set, that is, while the setting of the locked state is ON. FIG. 6illustrates an example of the lock screen. The lock screen 60 is ascreen representing that the locked state is set. The lock screen 60 isa screen that moves to other screen when a preset unlock gesture isdetected. The lock screen 60 is a screen on which gestures other than apreset gesture are invalidated. The smartphone 1 is in a state thatcannot perform various operations until a particular gesture is detectedon the lock screen.

The lock screen 60 illustrated in FIG. 6 has a date/time image 62, a keyicon (selection icon) 64, a ring 66, and application icons 68 a, 68 b,68 c and 68 d, a home icon 69 are arranged on a wall paper 61. On thelock screen 60, the same area 42 as the area 42 of the home screen 40 isarranged at the top edge of the display 2A. Displayed on the area 42 ofthe lock screen 60 are a remaining mark 43 indicating a remaining amountof a power supply and a radio-wave level mark 44 indicating an electricfield strength of radio wave for communication. The wall paper 61 isdisplayed behind the date/time image 62, the key icon 64, the ring 66,the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d, and the home icon 69.

The date/time image 62 is an image that indicates time and date, and isdisplayed under the area 42 in the upper portion of the lock screen 60.In the date/time image 62 illustrated in FIG. 6, a state displayindicating the time is “12:34 PM” that indicates twelve o'clock thirtyfour minutes in the afternoon, and a state display indicating the dateis “August 22” that indicates August 22.

The key icon 64 is a lock-shaped image and is displayed in asubstantially central portion of the screen. In the embodiment, the keyicon 64 is an object that a user drags through an unlock gesture and agesture for executing each application. When a swipe starting from thekey icon 64 is detected, the smartphone 1 moves a display position ofthe key icon 64 according to a movement of a contact position of theswipe.

The outer periphery of the ring 66 is displayed at a locationsurrounding the key icon 64. The ring 66 has a circular frame shape. Thekey icon 64 is arranged in a central portion of the circular frame ofthe ring 66. The circular frame of the ring 66 is arranged with the samecenter as that of the key icon 64 and has a shape with a larger diameterthan that of the outer edge of the key icon 64. The circular frame ofthe ring 66 is arranged to be spaced apart from the outer edge of thekey icon 64 by more than a predetermined distance. The ring 66 has aclosed shape and becomes a boundary that divides the area of the lockscreen 60 into two areas, that is, an inner area (a first area) and anouter area (a second area) of the ring 66.

The application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d are displayed separatelyon the ring 66. The application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d arearranged on the ring 66 in order of the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68c and 68 d in clockwise direction. Each of the application icons 68 a,68 b, 68 c and 68 d is associated with a particular applicationinstalled in the smartphone 1. When detecting a particular gesture forthe application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c or 68 d, the smartphone 1executes the application associated with the application icon for whichthe particular gesture is performed. The particular gesture will bedescribed below.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the application icon 68 a isassociated with a phone application. The application icon 68 b isassociated with a mail application. The application icon 68 c isassociated with an SMS application. The application icon 68 d isassociated with a text editor application.

Each of the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d includes animage that represents the associated application. Each of theapplication icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d may contain an image and acharacter like the icon 50, and may contain a symbol or a graphicinstead of an image. Each of the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and68 d may contain only a character string, without containing an image.

On the application icon 68 a associated with the phone application, anotice pop 70 a is displayed as an information icon. On the applicationicon 68 b associated with the mail application, a notice pop 70 b isdisplayed. On the application icon 68 c associated with the SMSapplication, a notice pop 70 c is displayed. That is, the notice pops(information icons) 70 a, 70 b and 70 c are arranged in a manner beingsuperimposed on the application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 c, respectively.The notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c are images that represent the numberof new information obtained by the applications associated with theapplication icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 c, respectively. Examples of the newinformation include, for example, newly arriving mail information ormissed call information. The notice pops may also be displayed at anarbitrary position on the screen separately from the application icons.

The notice pop 70 a is an image representing that there is missed callinformation obtained by the phone application. The missed callinformation is data representing a caller, a received date and time, orthe like of a phone call which is not received and is not checked. Thenotice pop 70 a of the embodiment is an image containing a number (“3”in FIG. 6) indicating the number of missed call information. The noticepop 70 b is an image representing that there is newly arriving mailinformation obtained by the mail application. The newly arriving mailinformation is data representing a sender, a received date and time, orthe like of an unread mail. The notice pop 70 b of the embodiment is animage containing a number (“2” in FIG. 6) indicating the number of newlyarriving mail information. The notice pop 70 c is an image representingthat there is newly arriving SMS information obtained by the SMSapplication. The notice pop 70 c of the embodiment is an imagecontaining a number (“1” in FIG. 6) indicating the number of newlyarriving SMS information.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the application associated with theapplication icon obtains new information representing that there is avariation in the state of the application, the smartphone 1 displays thenotice pop indicating the number of new information on the applicationicon. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, in the smartphone 1, therespective applications associated with the application icons 68 a, 68 band 68 c obtain new information and display the notice pops 70 a, 70 band 70 c on the application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 c. Since theapplication associated with the application icon 68 d does not obtainnew information, the smartphone 1 does not display the notice pop on theapplication icon 68 d.

When detecting a particular gesture for any of the application icons 68a, 68 b and 68 c containing the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c,respectively, the smartphone 1 displays new information of theapplication associated with the application icon. The particular gesturefor displaying the new information include a gesture of superimposingthe key icon 64 and any of the application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 ccontaining the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c, respectively, or agesture of tapping any of the application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 ccontaining the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c, respectively.

The smartphone 1 may display the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c atarbitrary positions on the application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 c.Display positions of the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c are not limitedas long as the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c is partially superimposedon the application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 c, respectively. Thesmartphone 1 may also display the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c suchthat the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c are completely included in theapplication icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 c.

The home icon 69 is displayed in an area that is a lower end side of thelock screen 60 in the outside of the ring 66. The home icon 69 is anicon that is associated with execution of unlock processing andprocessing of moving to the home screen 40. When detecting a particulargesture for the home icon 69, the smartphone 1 unlocks the locked stateand displays the home screen 40 on the display 2A. The particulargesture will be described below.

Then, the particular gesture for the home icon 69 will be described withreference to FIG. 7. At Step S1 illustrated in FIG. 7, the lock screen60 is displayed on the display 2A. At Step S1, the user's finger Ftouches the key icon 64. In this case, the smartphone 1 detects a touchon a portion where the key icon 64 is arranged.

At Step S2, the user's finger F drops the key icon 64 on the home icon69. That is, the user uses his/her finger F to touch the area where thekey icon 64 is displayed at Step S1, drags the key icon 64 along a pathindicated by an arrow α1, and releases the key icon 64 in the area wherethe home icon 69 is displayed. In this case, the smartphone 1 detects aswipe, of which the start point is the portion where the key icon 64 isarranged and the end point is the portion where the home icon 69 isarranged. That is, the smartphone 1 detects a drop of the key icon 64 onthe home icon 69. When detecting such a drop, the smartphone 1 unlocksthe locked state and displays the home screen 40 on the touch screendisplay 2. As described above, in the smartphone 1 of the embodiment,the drop of the key icon 64 on the home icon 69 is set as the particulargesture for the home icon 69.

When detecting the swipe of which the start point is the key icon 64,the smartphone 1 may display the key icon 64 at the position where thecontact is detected by the swipe. That is, when detecting the swipe ofwhich the start point is the key icon 64, the smartphone 1 may displaythe key icon 64 during the swipe while moving according to the movementof the finger F.

When detecting a gesture of dropping the key icon 64 on the outer area(the second area) of the ring 66, the smartphone 1 also unlocks thelocked state and displays the home screen 40 on the display 2A. That is,by dropping key icon 64 on the second area, the user can unlock thelocked state and allow the home screen 40 to be displayed.

When detecting a gesture of dropping the key icon 64 on the inner area(the first area) of the ring 66, the smartphone 1 returns the key icon64 to the initial position. That is, when the key icon 64 is not droppedon either of the second area and the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 cand 68 d, the smartphone 1 displays the key icon 64 at the centralposition of the ring 66.

Then, an example of the particular gesture for the application icons 68a, 68 b and 68 c containing the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 describes a case where theuser performs the particular gesture with respect to the applicationicon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 b so as to display newinformation. Specifically, FIG. 8 describes a case where the userperforms a gesture of superimposing the key icon 64 and the applicationicon 68 b as the particular gesture for displaying the new information.At Step S3 illustrated in FIG. 8, the lock screen 60 is displayed on thedisplay 2A. At Step S3, the user's finger F touches the key icon 64. Inthis case, the smartphone 1 detects the touch in the portion where thekey icon 64 is arranged.

At Step S4, the user's finger F superimposes the key icon 64 on theapplication icon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 b. That is, after thefinger F touches the area where the key icon 64 is displayed at Step S3,the user drags the key icon 64 along a path indicated by an arrow α2, sothat the key icon 64 is moved to the area where the application icon 68b is displayed. In this case, the smartphone 1 detects the swipe, ofwhich the start point is the portion where the key icon 64 is arrangedand which moves to the portion where the application icon 68 b isarranged. That is, the smartphone 1 detects the gesture of superimposingthe key icon 64 and the application icon 68 b. When detecting thegesture of superimposing the key icon 64 and the application icon 68 bas the particular gesture for the application icon 68 b containing thenotice pop 70 b, the smartphone 1 displays new information 63 a and 63 bof the application associated with the application icon 68 b, that is,the mail application.

In the example of FIG. 8, in the notice pop 70 b on the application icon68 b, a number (“2” in FIG. 8) indicating the number of new informationwith respect to the mail application is displayed. Therefore, whendetecting the gesture of superimposing the key icon 64 and theapplication icon 68 b, the smartphone 1 displays two pieces of newinformation 63 a and 63 b, which are related to the mail application, ina predetermined area of the lock screen 60 (in FIG. 8, area between thedate/time image 62 and the ring 66). Since the application associatedwith the application icon 68 b is the mail application, the newinformation 63 a and 63 b is newly arriving mail information. The newlyarriving mail information is data representing a sender, a received dateand time, or the like of a mail.

Specifically, the new information 63 a as the newly arriving mailinformation contains number data “6/6 13:00” indicating a received dateand time, and character data “Mail from Mr. A has arrived” indicatingthat there was a mail from a mail sender. The new information 63 b asthe newly arriving mail information contains number data “6/6 13:30”indicating a received date and time, and character data “Mail from Mr. Bhas arrived” indicating that there was a mail from a mail sender.

In the embodiment, as an example of the application icon containing thenotice pop, the processing of displaying the new information in theexample of the application icon 68 b, which is associated with the mailapplication and contains the notice pop 70 b, has been described, but itis not limited thereto. For example, when detecting the particulargesture for the application icon 68 a, which is associated with thephone application and contains the notice pop 70 a, the smartphone 1 maydisplay the new information, which corresponds to the number of piecesindicated by the notice pop 70 a, in a predetermined area of the lockscreen 60. In this case, since the application associated with theapplication icon 68 a is the phone application, the new information ismissed call information. The missed call information is datarepresenting a caller, a received date and time, or the like. Forexample, the new information as the missed call information may containnumber data “7/7 19:00” indicating a received date and time, andcharacter data “There was a call from Mr. C” indicating that there wasan incoming call from a caller. When detecting the particular gesturefor the application icon 68 c, which is associated with the SMSapplication and contains the notice pop 70 c, the smartphone 1 maydisplay the new information, which corresponds to the number of piecesindicated by the notice pop 70 c, in a predetermined area of the lockscreen 60. In this case, the new information is basically equal to thatof the mail application. In the embodiment, the example in which thenotice pop is an image indicating the number of pieces of the newinformation has been described, but it is not limited thereto. Forexample, the notice pop may be an image of a symbol indicating thepresence or absence of the new information.

In the embodiment, it has been described about the control of thesmartphone 1 for displaying the newly arriving information as the newinformation when detecting the gesture of superimposing the key icon 64and the application icon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 b. However,in case the user drops the key icon 64 on the application icon 68 b, thesmartphone 1 can further execute the mail application associated withthe application icon 68 b.

Then, the particular gesture for the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 cand 68 d will be described with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 describes acase where the particular gesture is performed with respect to theapplication icon 68 d so as to execute an application desired by a user.At Step S5 illustrated in FIG. 9, the lock screen 60 is displayed on thedisplay 2A. At Step S5, the user's finger F touches the key icon 64. Inthis case, the smartphone 1 detects a touch on a portion where the keyicon 64 is arranged.

At Step S6, the user's finger F drops the key icon 64 on the applicationicon 68 d. That is, at Step S5, the user uses his/her finger F to touchthe area where the key icon 64 is displayed, drags the key icon 64 alonga path indicated by an arrow α3, and releases the key icon 64 in thearea where the application icon 68 d is displayed. In this case, thesmartphone 1 detects the swipe, of which the start point is the portionwhere the key icon 64 is arranged and the end point is the portion wherethe application icon 68 d is arranged. That is, the smartphone 1 detectsthe drop of the key icon 64 on the application icon 68 d. When detectingsuch a drop, the smartphone 1 unlocks the locked state and executes thetext editor application as the application associated with theapplication icon 68 d. Subsequently, the smartphone 1 displays anoperation screen, which is displayed in a case the text editorapplication is executed as the application associated with theapplication icon 68 d, on the touch screen display 2.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of the operation screen in case the texteditor application is executed. When the text editor application isexecuted, the smartphone 1 displays the operation screen 80 illustratedin FIG. 10 on the touch screen display 2. The operation screen 80illustrated in FIG. 10 includes a display area 82 for checking an inputcharacter string on a substantially entire area of the upper portion ofthe screen, a keyboard object 84 for executing the input of a characterstring on the lower portion of the screen, a memo list display button 86for displaying a memo list registered by the text editor on the upperleft side of the display area 82, and a end button 88 for ending theprocessing of the text editor on the upper right side of the displayarea 82. In such a state that the operation screen 80 is displayed, whendetecting a tap or a swipe with respect to the keyboard object 84, thesmartphone 1 detects a character corresponding to a tapped area or aswiped trajectory as an input character. The smartphone 1 displays theinput character at a set position of the display area 82. In such astate that the operation screen 80 is displayed, when detecting a tapwith respect to the memo list display button 86 or the completion button88, the smartphone 1 executes the processing associated with the tappedbutton. In this manner, the smartphone 1 executes a variety ofprocessing of the text editor application and detects the input of thetext.

As described above, the smartphone 1 of the embodiment sets the drop ofthe key icon 64 on the application icon 68 a, 68 b, 68 c or 68 d as theparticular gesture for executing the application associated with theapplication icon on which the key icon 64 is dropped. Although thesmartphone 1 of the embodiment sets the drop of the key icon 64 on theapplication icon, that is, the gesture of dropping the key icon 64 onthe application icon, as the particular gesture for the applicationicon; however, the particular gesture is not limited thereto. Forexample, a gesture of flicking the key icon 64 toward the associatedapplication icon may be set as the particular gesture for theapplication icon. In a case where it is set to move the key icon 64 to anext tapped position after the key icon 64 is tapped, a gesture oftapping an application icon after tapping the key icon 64 may be set asthe particular gesture for the application icon. As described above, theparticular gesture for the application icon may be a gesture ofreleasing the key icon 64 in such a state that the key icon 64 and theapplication icon are superimposed. The above-described gesturescorrespond to the gesture of releasing the key icon 64 in such a statethat the key icon 64 and the application icon are superimposed.

In the embodiment, although the gesture in which the touch on the keyicon is the start point have been described, a gesture in which thetouch on the application icon is the start point may be set as theparticular gesture for executing the application associated with theapplication icon. For example, a gesture of dragging the applicationicon and dropping the application icon on the key icon may be set as theparticular gesture for the application icon.

An example of the procedure of the control based on the functionsprovided by the control program 9A will be described with reference toFIG. 11. FIG. 11 illustrates the procedure of the control that isperformed in the locked state, in particular, the control that isperformed during displaying the lock screen. The procedure illustratedin FIG. 11 is realized by the controller 10 executing the controlprogram 9A. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 11 is executed in a casewhere the locked state is set and an operation of displaying a screen onthe display 2A is detected. The case where the operation of displayingthe screen on the display 2A is detected is, for example, a case where ascreen return operation is detected in such a state that a power-savingmode is set so that the screen is not displayed on the touch screendisplay 2. The controller 10 may execute another procedure for controlrelated to the lock screen 60 in parallel with the procedure illustratedin FIG. 11.

The controller 10 displays the lock screen on the touch screen display 2at Step S10. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the controller 10displays, on the touch screen display 2, the lock screen including thekey icon 64 and the application icons 68 a to 68 d associated with theapplications. The controller 10 displays, on the application icons 68 ato 68 c, the notice pops 70 a to 70 c indicating the number of pieces ofthe new information with respect to the applications associated with theapplication icon 68 a to 68 c.

When the lock screen is displayed at Step S10, the controller 10determines at Step S12 whether a gesture has been detected. Thecontroller 10 obtains the detection result of the touch screen 2B, anddetermines whether a gesture is detected, based on the obtaineddetection result. When it is determined at Step S12 that no gesture hasbeen detected (No at Step S12), the controller 10 determines at Step S14whether threshold value time waiting time is satisfied. That is, thecontroller 10 determines whether the waiting time defined as the elapsedtime after the completion of the latest operation is equal to or greaterthan the predetermined threshold value time.

When it is determined at Step S14 that threshold value time≦waiting timeis not satisfied (No at Step S14), that is, when it is determined thatthreshold value time>waiting time is satisfied, the controller 10proceeds to Step S12 and determines again whether there is a gesture.When it is determined at Step S14 that threshold value time≦waiting timeis satisfied (Yes at Step S14), the controller 10 shifts to thepower-saving mode at Step S16 and ends the processing. That is, thecontroller 10 changes to a state in which the lock screen is notdisplayed, by turning off the touch screen display 2, and ends theprocessing.

When it is determined at Step S12 that a gesture has been detected (Yesat Step S12), the controller 10 determines, at Step S18, whether thegesture is a gesture of touching the key icon. That is, the controller10 determines whether the gesture detected at Step S12 is a gesture oftouching the key icon. When it is determined at Step S18 that thedetected gesture is not the gesture of touching the key icon (No at StepS18), the controller 10 executes the process corresponding to thedetected gesture at Step S20, and proceeds to Step S12. Examples of theprocess corresponding to the detected gesture include, but are notlimited to, processing of displaying the new information of theapplications associated with the application icons containing the noticepops displayed on the lock screen, processing of moving the positions ofthe application icons displayed on the lock screen, etc. The processingof displaying the new information and the processing of moving thepositions of the application icons will be described below. Furthermore,the processing of the detected gesture may be processing of displayingscreens displayable on the lock screen, for example, a help screen or anurgent notice screen.

When it is determined at Step S18 that the detected gesture is thegesture of touching the key icon (Yes at Step S18), the controller 10determines at Step S22 whether the touch is released on the second areaor the home icon. That is, the controller 10 determines whether thetouch on the key icon, which is detected at Step S18, is swiped and thenreleased so that the corresponding released position (position where thekey icon is dropped) is on the second area or the home icon.

When it is determined at Step S22 that the key icon is released on thesecond area or on the home icon (Yes at Step S22), the controller 10executes unlock processing at Step S24, and displays the home screen onthe touch screen display 2 at Step S26. When the home screen isdisplayed at Step S26, the controller 10 ends the processing.

When it is determined at Step S22 that the key icon is not released oneither of the second area and the home icon (No at Step S22), thecontroller 10 determines at Step S27 whether a gesture of moving the keyicon onto the application icon is detected. That is, the controller 10determines whether the touch on the key icon, which is detected at StepS18, is swiped and is on the application icon.

When it is determined at Step S27 that the gesture of moving the keyicon onto the application icon is detected (Yes at Step S27), thecontroller 10 determines, at Step S28, whether there is the notice popon the application icon. When it is determined at Step S27 that there isno gesture of moving the key icon onto the application icon (No at StepS27), the controller 10 proceeds to processing of Step S34.

When it is determined at Step S28 that there is the notice pop on theapplication icon (Yes at Step S28), the controller 10 displays newinformation, which corresponds to the number of pieces indicated by thenotice pop, on the lock screen at Step S29. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 8, when detecting the particular gesture for the applicationicon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 b (in FIG. 8, the gesture ofsuperimposing the key icon 64 on the application icon 68 b) through thetouch screen display 2, the controller 10 displays new information 63 aand 63 b on the lock screen 60. Subsequently, the controller 10 proceedsto processing of Step S30. When it is determined at Step S28 that thereis no notice pop on the application icon (No at Step S28), thecontroller 10 proceeds to the processing of Step S30.

When it is determined at Step S28 that there is no notice pop on theapplication icon (No at Step S28), or when the new information isdisplayed at Step S29, the controller 10 determines, at Step S30,whether the touch is released on the application icon. That is, thecontroller 10 determines whether the touch on the key icon, which isdetected at Step S18, is swiped and then released, and the correspondingreleased position (position where the key icon is dropped) is on theapplication icon.

When it is determined at Step S30 that the key icon is released on theapplication icon (Yes at Step S30), the controller 10 executes unlockprocessing at Step S31, executes the application associated with theapplication icon located at the dropped position at Step S32, anddisplays the screen of the executed application on the touch screendisplay 2 at Step S33. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10,when detecting the release of the key icon 64 superimposed on theapplication icon 68 d through the touch screen display 2, the controller10 executes the text editor application associated with the applicationicon 68 d. When the moved screen of the application is displayed at StepS33, the controller 10 ends the processing.

When it is determined at Step S27 that there is no gesture ofsuperimposing the key icon on the application icon (No at Step S27), orwhen it is determined at Step S30 that the key icon is not released onthe application icon (No at Step S30), the controller 10 determines atStep S34 whether the key icon is released in the first area. That is,the controller 10 determines whether the touch on the key icon, which isdetected at Step S18, is swiped and then released so that thecorresponding released position (position where the key icon is dropped)is the first area.

When it is determined at Step S34 that the key icon is released in thefirst area (Yes at Step S34), the controller 10 moves the key icon tothe initial position at Step S36, and proceeds to Step S12. When it isdetermined at Step S34 that the key icon is not released on the firstarea (No at Step S34), the controller 10 proceeds to Step S22. Asdescribed above, when detecting the touch on the key icon at Step S18,the controller 10 repeats the processing of Step S22, Step S27, StepS30, and Step S34 until the release of the touch gesture, that is, thedrop of the key icon, is detected at Step S22 or Step S30.

As such, the smartphone 1 displays, on the lock screen, the applicationicon containing the notice pop indicating the number of new informationwith respect to the application. When the particular gesture for theapplication icon containing the notice pop (in the embodiment, gestureof superimposing the key icon on the application icon containing thenotice pop) is detected, the smartphone 1 displays the new information.Therefore, on the lock screen, the user can check, for example, thenumber of pieces of the new information with respect to the application(for example, the number of newly arriving mails, or the number ofmissed calls, and the like), and the content of the new information (forexample, a sender or a received date and time of a mail, or a caller ora received date and time of an incoming call), and the like. Asdescribed above, the smartphone 1 of the embodiment provides the userwith high operability and high convenience in a state that the lockscreen representing the locked state is displayed.

The smartphone 1 displays the application icon on the lock screen. Whendetecting the drop of the key icon on the application icon, thesmartphone 1 executes the application associated with the applicationicon. Therefore, the user can execute the desired application quicklyfrom the locked state.

When detecting the release gesture in the state that the applicationicon and the key icon are superimposed, the smartphone 1 executes theunlock processing, the application selection processing, and theapplication execution processing. Thus, the application icons displayedon the lock screen works as icons having a short-cut function.Therefore, the user can input three processings through a singlegesture. Accordingly, the user can execute the desired application by ashort-cut operation in which part of operations, for example, anoperation of performing the unlock and displaying the icon selectionscreen and the operation of selecting the icon on the icon selectionscreen are omitted.

By arranging the application icon at a position spaced apart from thekey icon, specifically on the ring 66, the smartphone 1 can suppress theapplication associated with the application icon from being executed atunintended timings due to erroneous operations, even when theapplication icon is arranged on the lock screen.

When detecting the drop of the key icon on the second area or the homeicon, the smartphone 1 unlocks the locked state and displays the homescreen. Therefore, the user can unlock the locked state through a simpleoperation. The smartphone 1 may be configured not to display the homeicon on the lock screen.

When detecting the drop of the key icon on the home icon, the smartphone1 may execute processing different from that of the case where the dropof the key icon on the second area is detected. For example, whendetecting the drop of the key icon on the home icon, the smartphone 1unlocks the locked state and displays the home screen. On the otherhand, when detecting the drop of the key icon on the second area, thesmartphone 1 unlocks the locked state, and then displays the applicationif there is an application being already executed, and displays the homescreen if there is no application being executed. In this manner, bychanging the processing to be executed according to whether the positionwhere the key icon is dropped is the home icon or the second area, thesmartphone 1 can execute more types of processing quickly from thelocked state.

In the processing operation illustrated in FIG. 11, the smartphone 1determines the detected gesture for the key icon in order of Step S22,Step S27, Step S30, and Step S34, but the order of the determination isnot specially limited. The smartphone 1 may execute the determinationsof Step S22, Step S27, Step S30, and Step S34 in any order.

In the processing operation illustrated in FIG. 11, when it isdetermined at Step S30 that it is a gesture of releasing the key icon onthe application icon, the smartphone 1 executes the unlock processing,but it is not limited thereto. When detecting the gesture of releasingthe key icon on the application icon, the smartphone 1 may execute theapplication associated with the application icon, without executing theunlock processing.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the procedure ofthe control that is performed in the locked state. FIG. 12 illustratesanother example of the procedure that is performed when it is determinedthat the gesture of releasing the key icon on the application icon isdetected, that is, the procedure that is performed after it isdetermined as Yes at Step S30 of FIG. 11. The procedure illustrated inFIG. 12 is realized by the controller 10 executing the control program9A.

When it is determined as Yes at Step S30, the controller 10 executes theapplication associated with the application icon located at the droppedposition at Step S32, and displays the screen of the executedapplication on the touch screen display 2 at Step S33. When the screenof the executed application is displayed at Step S33, the controller 10performs the processing of the executed application at Step S37. Forexample, when a gesture is detected, the controller 10 executes theprocessing associated with the detected gesture.

When the processing of the application is executed at Step S37, thecontroller 10 determines whether to end (terminate or suspend) theapplication at Step S38. For example, when detecting the gesture ofending the application, and when it is determined that a presetprocessing condition is satisfied, the controller 10 determines toterminate the application. When it is determined not to end theapplication (No at Step S38), the controller 10 proceeds to Step S37 andperforms the processing of the application. When it is determined to endthe application (Yes at Step S38), the controller 10 displays the lockscreen at Step S39 and ends the processing. That is, when it isdetermined as Yes at Step S38, the controller 10 proceeds to Step S10 inFIG. 11 and ends the processing illustrated in FIG. 12.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, when detecting the release gesture in thestate that the key icon and the application icon are superimposed, thesmartphone 1 executes the application associated with the applicationicon on which the key icon is superimposed, and displays the lock screenagain when the application is ended. For example, the smartphone 1 mayexecute the processing operation of executing the mail application whenthe key icon and the icon associated with the mail application aresuperimposed, and returning to the lock screen when the mail istransmitted. Therefore, the user can use the application associated withthe application icon displayed on the lock screen in a state the lockedstate is not unlocked. That is, the user can execute the predeterminedset processing, without inputting the cumbersome unlock gesture.

The smartphone 1 of the embodiment sets the gesture of superimposing thekey icon 64 and the respective application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 ccontaining the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c, as the particulargesture for displaying the new information with respect to therespective applications associated with the application icons 68 a, 68 band 68 c. Although the smartphone 1 of the embodiment sets the gestureof superimposing the key icon 64 on the application icon as theparticular gesture for displaying the new information with respect tothe application associated with the application icon, it is not limitedthereto. For example, a gesture of directly tapping the applicationicon, without the user's operating the key icon 64, may be set as theparticular gesture for displaying the new information with respect tothe application associated with the application icon.

Then, an example of the processing of displaying the new information,which is executed during displaying the lock screen, will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. 13 illustrates an example of thecontrol during displaying the lock screen. At Step S7 illustrated inFIG. 13, the lock screen 60 is displayed on the display 2A, and theuser's finger F taps the application icon 68 b containing the notice pop70 b. In this case, the smartphone 1 detects the tap in the portionwhere the application icon 68 b is arranged.

At Step S8, the new information 63 a and 63 b is displayed on the lockscreen 60. In this case, at Step S7, when detecting the gesture oftapping the application icon 68 b as the particular gesture for theapplication icon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 b, the smartphone 1displays the new information 63 a and 63 b of the mail applicationassociated with the application icon 68 b.

In the example of FIG. 13, in the notice pop 70 b on the applicationicon 68 b, a number (“2” in FIG. 13) indicating the number of newinformation with respect to the mail application is displayed.Therefore, when detecting the gesture of tapping the application icon 68b containing the notice pop 70 b, the smartphone 1 displays newinformation 63 a and 63 b, which corresponds to two pieces with respectto the mail application, in a predetermined area of the lock screen 60(in FIG. 13, area between the date/time image 62 and the ring 66). Sincethe application associated with the application icon 68 b is the mailapplication, the new information 63 a and 63 b is newly arriving mailinformation. The newly arriving mail information is data representing asender, a received date and time, and the like of a mail. Specifically,the new information 63 a contains number data “6/6 13:00” indicating areceived date and time, and character data “Mail from Mr. A has arrived”indicating that there was a mail from a mail sender. The new information63 b contains number data “6/6 13:30” indicating a received date andtime, and character data “Mail from Mr. B has arrived” indicating thatthere was a mail from a mail sender.

As described above, the smartphone 1 of the embodiment sets the gestureof tapping the respective application icons 68 a, 68 b and 68 ccontaining the notice pops 70 a, 70 b and 70 c, as the particulargesture for displaying the new information with respect to therespective applications associated with the application icons 68 a, 68 band 68 c.

An example of the procedure of displaying new information based on thefunctions provided by the control program 9A will be described withreference to FIG. 14. FIG. 14 illustrates the procedure of the controlthat is performed in the locked state, in particular, the control thatis performed during displaying the lock screen. The procedureillustrated in FIG. 14 is realized by the controller 10 executing thecontrol program 9A. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 14 is performed asa part of the processing of Step S20. At Step S20 of FIG. 11, thecontroller 10 may execute another procedure for control related to thelock screen 60 in parallel with the procedure illustrated in FIG. 14.

The controller 10 determines, at Step S40, whether the detected gestureis a gesture of tapping the application icon. That is, as illustrated inFIG. 13, the controller 10 determines whether a tap is detected in theportion where the application icon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 bis arranged.

When it is determined at Step S40 that the detected gesture is thegesture of tapping the application icon (Yes at Step S40), thecontroller 10 determines, at Step S42, whether there is the notice popon the application icon. When it is determined at Step S40 that there isno gesture of tapping the application icon (No at Step S40), thecontroller 10 ends the processing.

When it is determined at Step S42 that there is the notice pop on theapplication icon (Yes at Step S42), the controller 10 displays newinformation, which corresponds to the number of pieces indicated by thenotice pop, on the lock screen at Step S44. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 13, when detecting the particular gesture for the applicationicon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 b, the controller 10 displays thenew information 63 a and 63 b on the lock screen 60. Examples of theparticular gesture includes the gesture of tapping the application icon68 b containing the notice pop 70 b illustrated in FIG. 13.Subsequently, the processing is ended. When it is determined at Step S42that there is no notice pop on the application icon (No at Step S42),the controller 10 ends the processing.

As described in FIGS. 13 and 14, when the gesture of tapping theapplication icon 68 b is detected as the particular gesture for theapplication icon 68 b containing the notice pop 70 b, the smartphone 1displays the new information 63 a and 63 b of the mail applicationassociated with the application icon 68 b. Therefore, the user can checkthe new information, which corresponds to the number of pieces indicatedby the notice pop, on the lock screen by just tapping the applicationicon, without performing the operation of superimposing the key icon 64on the application icon.

The smartphone 1 may also display the new information with respect tothe respective applications, which are associated with the respectiveapplication icons 68 a to 68 c containing the notice pops 70 a to 70 cdisplayed on the lock screen, by other gestures. For example, whendetecting gestures of a double tap, a long tap, or the like for theapplication icon 68 b, the smartphone 1 may display the new informationwith respect to the application associated with the application icon. Inthis case, after displaying the new information, when detecting againthe particular gesture (tap or the like) for the application icon, thesmartphone 1 may delete the new information displayed on the lockscreen.

Then, an example of the processing of moving the position of theapplication icon executed during displaying the lock screen will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16. FIG. 15 illustrates anexample of the control during displaying the lock screen. At Step S51illustrated in FIG. 15, the lock screen 60 is displayed on the display2A. At Step S51, the user's finger F touches the ring 66. In this case,the smartphone 1 detects the touch in the portion where the ring 66 isarranged.

At Step S52, the user swipes his/her finger F along the ring 66. Afterthe user's finger F touches the position where the ring 66 is displayedat Step S51, the user swipes the finger F along a path indicated by anarrow α4. In this case, the smartphone 1 detects the swipe along thering 66. When detecting such a swipe, the smartphone 1 rotates theapplication icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d arranged on the ring 66,based on a movement amount of the swipe on the ring 66, in theembodiment, an angle of an arc of the swipe. That is, in such a statethat the ring 66 and the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 darranged on the ring 66 are connected together, the smartphone 1 rotatesthe ring 66 and the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d by usingthe center of the ring 66 as the rotational axis. By rotating the ring66 without changing the shape of the ring 66, the smartphone 1 maydisplay as if only the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d arerotated.

At Step S53, the user swipes his/her finger F along the ring 66. Afterthe user's finger F touches the position where the ring 66 is displayedat Step S51, the user swipes the finger F along a path indicated by anarrow α4, and also swipes the finger F along a path indicated by anarrow α5. In this case, the smartphone 1 detects the swipe along thering 66. When detecting such a swipe, the smartphone 1 further rotatesthe application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d arranged on the ring 66,based on a movement amount of the swipe, in the embodiment, an angle ofan arc of the swipe on the ring 66.

An example of the procedure of the control based on the functionsprovided by the control program 9A will be described with reference toFIG. 16. FIG. 16 illustrates the procedure of the control that isperformed in the locked state, in particular, the control that isperformed during displaying the lock screen. The procedure illustratedin FIG. 16 is realized by the controller 10 executing the controlprogram 9A. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 16 is performed as a partof the processing of Step S20. At Step S20 of FIG. 11, the controller 10may execute another procedure for control related to the lock screen 60in parallel with the procedure illustrated in FIG. 16.

The controller 10 determines at Step S60 whether the detected gesture isa swipe along the ring 66. That is, the controller 10 determines whethera gesture of touching the area where the ring 66 is displayed andswiping along the ring 66, as illustrated in FIG. 15, is detected. Whenit is determined at Step S60 that the detected gesture is the swipealong the ring 66 (Yes at Step S60), the controller 10 changes thedisplay position of the application icon at Step S62. That is, thecontroller 10 rotates the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 darranged on the ring 66, based on the swipe detected at Step S60. Whenthe display position of the application icon is changed at Step S62, thecontroller 10 ends the processing. When it is determined at Step S60that there is no swipe along the ring 66 (No at Step S60), thecontroller 10 ends the processing.

As described in FIGS. 15 and 16, when detecting the gesture of swipingalong the ring 66, the smartphone 1 rotates the application icons 68 a,68 b, 68 c and 68 d arranged on the ring 66. Therefore, the user caneasily adjust the positions of the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 cand 68 d on the lock screen, and move the desired application icon tothe position where it is easy to drop the key icon 64.

The smartphone 1 may be configured to adjust the positions of theapplication icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d displayed on the lock screenby other gestures. For example, when detecting the swipe, of which thestart point is the application icon and the end point is an arbitraryposition on the ring 66, that is, when detecting the drop of theapplication icon on the arbitrary position on the ring 66, thesmartphone 1 may move the display position of the application icon tothe dropped position. When detecting the swipe, of which the start pointis the application icon and the end point is other application icon onthe ring 66, that is, when detecting the drop of the application icon onother application icon, the smartphone 1 may exchange the displayposition of the application icon with the display position of otherapplication icon.

Another example of the lock screen will be described with reference toFIGS. 17A to 17C. FIGS. 17A to 17C illustrate examples of the respectivelock screens. Although the lock screen 60 displays four applicationicons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d on the ring 66, the number of theapplication icons is not limited thereto. For example, the lock screen60 a illustrated in FIG. 17A displays two application icons of theapplication icons 68 a and 68 b on the ring 66. The lock screen 60 billustrated in FIG. 17B displays eight application icons of theapplication icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c, 68 d, 68 e, 68 f, 68 g and 68 h onthe ring 66. The lock screens 60 a and 60 b have the same configurationas the lock screen 60, except for the number of the application icons.As illustrated in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the smartphone 1 may display anarbitrary number of the application icons on the lock screen.

The smartphone 1 may display the home icon 69 on the ring 66.Specifically, the lock screen 60 c illustrated in FIG. 17C displays fiveapplication icons of the application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c, 68 d and 68e and the home icon 69 on the ring 66. The home icon 69 is displayedbetween the application icon 68 a and the application icon 68 e.

The shape of the ring 66 of the lock screen is not limited to a circle.The ring 66 has only to divide the lock screen into a first area, whichincludes the key icon 64, and a second area, which does not include thekey icon 64. The ring 66 has only to have a frame surrounding the outeredge of the key icon 64. The frame surrounding the outer edge of the keyicon 64 may have various shapes, such as a polygon, an ellipse, and acombined shape of a curve and a straight line. The ring 66 may bedisplayed on the lock screen. By displaying the ring 66 on the lockscreen, the smartphone 1 may clearly indicate the user the boundarybetween the first area and the second area. Therefore, the user canexecute the desired processing more reliably.

By displaying the application icon on the ring 66 or the frame, which isthe boundary between the first area and the second area, the smartphone1 can facilitate the input of the gesture of superimposing theapplication icon and the key icon, while suppressing the applicationfrom being executed by erroneous operations. Therefore, it is preferableto display the application icon on the ring 66 or the frame, but thesmartphone 1 may also display the application icon on the area that doesnot overlap the ring 66 or the frame.

Next, the control for setting up the display content of the lock screenwill be described with reference to FIGS. 18 to 22. FIG. 18 illustratesan example of an icon setting screen. The icon setting screen 90illustrated in FIG. 18 displays a plurality of items 92, check boxes 94corresponding to the items 92, and a scroll bar 98. Check marks 96 aredisplayed in some of the check boxes 94.

The items 92 are images indicating applications that can be executed bythe smartphone 1 and can be displayed as application icons. The items 92display character information set to the applications, specifically,application names. The icon setting screen 90 creates the items 92 withrespect to respective applications that are executable by the smartphone1, and displays the items 92 as a list.

The check boxes 94 are square frames and are displayed on the left ofthe respective items 92. The check boxes 94 are display areas forrepresenting whether the items 92 are selected. The check mark 96 is animage representing whether the item 92 corresponding to the check box 94is selected as the items to be displayed as the application icons. Asdescribed above, in the check box 94, the check mark 96 is displayedwhen the item 92 is selected, and the check mark 96 is not displayedwhen the item 92 is unselected. The scroll bar 98 is an imagerepresenting to which area of the entire icon setting screen 90 the areacurrently displayed on the display 2A corresponds. When detecting anoperation of moving an object 98 a representing a current position ofthe scroll bar 98, the smartphone 1 scrolls the icon setting screen 90displayed on the display 2A, based on the detected operation.

Although the items 92 are displayed as the images of characterinformation of the application names, the icon setting screen 90 is notlimited thereto. The icon setting screen 90 may use, as the items 92,images of the application icons associated with the applications, orimages of the icons displayed on the home screen.

The smartphone 1 displays the icon setting screen 90, and determines theapplication icon to be displayed on the lock screen, based on theoperation detected during displaying the icon setting screen 90.

The procedure of the control based on the functions provided by thecontrol program 9A, specifically the procedure of the control of theprocessing of determining the application icon displayed on the lockscreen, will be described with reference to FIG. 19. FIG. 19 is aflowchart illustrating the procedure of the control for setting up thedisplay content of the lock screen. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 19is realized by the controller 10 executing the control program 9A. Theprocedure illustrated in FIG. 19 is executed, for example, when theoperation of executing the setting application of the application icondisplayed on the lock screen is detected.

The controller 10 displays the icon setting screen at Step S70, that is,the screen illustrated in FIG. 18, on the touch screen display 2. Whenthe icon setting screen is displayed at Step S70, the controller 10determines at Step S72 whether a gesture has been detected. That is, thecontroller 10 obtains the detection result of the touch screen 2B, anddetermines whether a gesture is detected based on the obtained detectionresult. When it is determined at Step S72 that no gesture has beendetected (No at Step S72), the controller 10 proceeds to Step S72 anddetermines again whether a gesture has been detected.

When it is determined at Step S72 that a gesture has been detected (Yesat Step S72), the controller 10 determines at Step S74, whether thegesture is an item selection operation. That is, the controller 10determines whether the gesture detected at Step S72 is a gesture ofselecting the item displayed on the icon setting screen. The gesture ofselecting the item displayed on the icon setting screen is a presetparticular gesture selected among various gestures. The gesture ofselecting the item displayed on the icon setting screen may use a tap, along tap, or a double tap with respect to the area where the item isdisplayed, and may use a tap, a long tap, a double tap, or the like withrespect to the area where the check box corresponding to the item isdisplayed.

When it is determined at Step S74 that the gesture is the item selectionoperation (Yes at Step S74), the controller 10 determines at Step S76whether the targeted item is in a selected state. That is, thecontroller 10 detects the state of the item determined as selected atStep S74, and determines whether the item is in a selected state, in theembodiment, whether there is the check mark 96 in the check box 94corresponding to the item 92.

When it is determined at Step S76 that the item is in the selected state(Yes at Step S76), the controller 10 changes the item to an unselectedstate at Step S78, and proceeds to Step S82. When it is determined atStep S76 that the item is not in the selected state (No at Step S76),the controller 10 changes the item to a selected state at Step S80, andproceeds to Step S82.

When the processing of Step S78 or Step S80 is executed, the controller10 changes the display state of the item at Step S82. That is, thecontroller 10 clears the check mark of the check box of the item changedto the unselected state at Step S78, and displays the check mark in thecheck box of the item changed to the selected state at Step S80. Whenthe processing of Step S82 is executed, the controller 10 proceeds toStep S72 and repeats the above-described processing.

When it is determined at Step S74 that the gesture is not the itemselection operation (No at Step S74), the controller 10 determines atStep S84 whether the gesture is the setting completion operation. Whenit is determined at Step S84 that the gesture is not the settingcompletion operation (No at Step S84), the controller 10 executes theprocess corresponding to the detected gesture at Step S86, and proceedsto Step S72. Examples of the process corresponding to the detectedgesture include screen scroll processing of the icon setting screen,display processing of screens displayable on the icon setting screen,for example, a help screen, and the like. When it is determined at StepS84 that the gesture is the setting completion operation (Yes at StepS84), the controller 10 sets the item in the selected state to an itemto be displayed at Step S88. That is, the controller 10 sets theapplication of the item in the selected state to the applicationdisplaying the application icon on the lock screen. When the displayitem is set at Step S88, the controller 10 ends the processing.

The procedure of the control based on the functions provided by thecontrol program 9A, specifically the procedure of the control of settingthe display position of the application icon to be displayed, will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 20. FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustratingthe procedure of the control for setting up the display content of thelock screen, in particular, the procedure of the control for setting upthe display position of the application icon to be displayed. Theprocedure illustrated in FIG. 20 is realized by the controller 10executing the control program 9A. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 20is executed when the setting processing of the application icon to bedisplayed is completed, or when the operation of displaying on the lockscreen at first is detected after the setting processing of theapplication icon to be displayed is completed. The procedure illustratedin FIG. 20 may be executed whenever the operation of displaying on thelock screen is detected.

The controller 10 extracts the application icons to be displayed at StepS90. Specifically, the controller 10 extracts the application set to thedisplay item in the above-described processing, and extracts theapplication icons associated with the extracted applications as theapplication icons to be displayed.

When the application icons are extracted at Step S90, the controller 10determines the spacing between the application icons at Step S92.Specifically, the controller 10 determines the spacing between theapplication icons on the ring 66, based on the number of the extractedapplication icons. The spacing may be equal and may be changed byposition. For example, the controller 10 may set the ranks of theapplication icons and determine the spacing such that the distance tothe adjacent icon application is increased with respect to theapplication icons whose ranks are set as high, and the distance to theadjacent icon application is decreased with respect to the applicationicons whose ranks are set as low. Thus, the icon applications having thehigh ranks are arranged far from other applications, so that the keyicon can be easily superimposed thereon.

When the spacing is determined at Step S92, the controller 10 determinesthe arrangement positions of the application icons at Step S94. That is,the controller 10 determines the arrangement positions on the lockscreen with respect to the application icons extracted at Step S90,based on the spacing determined at Step S92. The controller 10 arrangesthe application icons at the positions superimposed on the ring 66 withthe determined spacing. The application icons may be arranged on thering 66 in various orders. The application icons may be arranged on thering 66 in order set in advance by the user.

As illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 20, the smartphone 1 may allow the userto select the application icon to be displayed on the lock screen.Accordingly, since the desired application icon can be displayed on thelock screen, the user can execute the desired application quickly.

By determining the spacing based on the number of the application iconsto be displayed, the smartphone 1 can arrange the application icons onthe ring with appropriate spacing. Therefore, the user can easily dropthe key icon on the respective application icons arranged on the ring.

Although the case of automatically arranging the application icons hasbeen described in FIG. 20, a manner of arranging the application iconsis not limited thereto. The smartphone 1 may determine the arrangementpositions of the application icons based on the gesture detected throughthe touch screen display 2.

Hereinafter, an example of the control that determines the arrangementpositions of the application icons, based on the gesture detectedthrough the touch screen display 2, will be described with reference toFIGS. 21 and 22. FIG. 21 illustrates an example of the control forsetting up the display content of the lock screen.

At Step S101 illustrated in FIG. 21, an icon position setting screen 102is displayed on the display 2A. The icon position setting screen 102 isa screen for setting the display positions of the application icons tobe displayed on the lock screen. On the icon position setting screen102, a ring 106 and application icons 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 108 d arearranged. On the icon position setting screen 102, the same area 42 asthe area 42 of the home screen 40 is arranged at the top edge of thedisplay 2A. On the icon position setting screen 102, a remaining mark 43indicating a remaining amount of a power supply and a radio-wave levelmark 44 indicating an electric field strength of radio wave forcommunication are displayed in the area 42.

The ring 106 is an image having a circular frame shape, and is displayedat the same position as that of the ring 66 displayed on the lock screen60. The ring 106 is an image corresponding to the ring 66 of the lockscreen 60. The ring 106 becomes a reference for determining thepositions of the applications icons 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 108 d in theicon position setting screen 102.

The application icons 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 108 d are the same imagesas the respective application icons 68 a, 68 b, 68 c and 68 d of thelock screen 60. The application icons 108 a, 108 b, 108 c and 108 d arearranged under the area 42 in a row.

At Step S102, the user's finger F touches the application icon 108 a. Inthis case, the smartphone 1 detects the touch in the portion where theapplication icon 108 a is arranged.

At Step S103, the user's finger F drops the application icon 108 a onthe ring 106. That is, the user uses his/her finger F to touch the areawhere the application icon 108 a is displayed at Step S102, drags theapplication icon 108 a along a path indicated by an arrow α6, andreleases the application icon 108 a in the area where the ring 106 isdisplayed. In this case, the smartphone 1 detects the swipe, of whichthe start point is the portion where the application icon 108 a isarranged and the end point is the portion where the ring 106 isarranged. That is, the smartphone 1 detects the drop of the applicationicon 108 a on the ring 106.

At Step S104, the application icon 108 a is arranged on the ring 106.That is, when the drop is detected, as illustrated in Step S104, thesmartphone 1 sets the position on the ring 106, at which the applicationicon 108 a is dropped, as the display position of the application icon108 a.

By inputting the same gesture with respect to the application icons 108b, 108 c and 108 d, the user can determine the positions of therespective application icons 108 b, 108 c and 108 d on the ring 106.When detecting the drop of the respective application icons 108 b, 108 cand 108 d on the ring 106, the smartphone 1 sets the dropped positionson the ring 106 as the display positions of the dropped applicationicons. When detecting the drop of the application icons 108 a, 108 b,108 c or 108 d on the area where the application icon is notsuperimposed with the ring 106, the smartphone 1 of the embodimentreturns the dropped application icons to the positions of prior to thedrop.

The procedure of the control based on the functions provided by thecontrol program 9A, specifically the procedure of the control of theprocessing of determining the display positions of the application iconsto be displayed on the lock screen, will be described with reference toFIG. 22. FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of thecontrol for setting up the display content of the lock screen. Theprocedure illustrated in FIG. 22 is realized by the controller 10executing the control program 9A. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 22is executed, for example, when the operation of executing theapplication for determining the display positions of the applicationicons to be displayed on the lock screen is detected.

The controller 10 displays the icon position setting screen at StepS120, that is, the screen illustrated in Step S101 of FIG. 21, on thetouch screen display 2. When the icon position setting screen isdisplayed at Step S120, the controller 10 determines at Step S122whether a gesture has been detected. That is, the controller 10 obtainsthe detection result of the touch screen 2B, and determines whether agesture is detected based on the obtained detection result. When it isdetermined at Step S122 that no gesture has been detected (No at StepS122), the controller 10 proceeds to Step S122 and determines againwhether a gesture has been detected.

When it is determined at Step S122 that a gesture has been detected (Yesat Step S122), the controller 10 determines at Step S124 whether thedetected gesture is a touch on the icon. That is, the controller 10determines whether the gesture detected at Step S122 is a touch on theapplication icon displayed on the icon position setting screen.

When it is determined at Step S124 that the gesture is the touch on theicon (Yes at Step S124), the controller 10 determines at Step S126whether a release has been detected. That is, the controller 10determines whether the touch on the application icon, which is detectedat Step S124, is released. When it is determined at Step S126 that thereis no release (No at Step S126), that is, when it is determined that thetouch on the application icon is continued, the controller 10 proceedsto Step S126 and determines again whether a release has been detected.

When it is determined at Step S126 that a release has been detected (Yesat Step S126), the controller 10 determines at Step S128 whether therelease position is on the ring. That is, the controller 10 determineswhether the position of the release determined as being present at StepS126 is on the ring, that is, whether the application icon is dropped onthe ring.

When it is determined at Step S128 that the release position is on thering (Yes at Step S128), the controller 10 sets the release position asthe icon display position at Step S130. That is, the controller 10 setsthe position on the ring, at which the application icon is dropped, asthe display position of the application icon. When the display positionof the icon is changed at Step S130, the controller 10 proceeds to StepS122.

When it is determined at Step S128 that the release position is not onthe ring (No at Step S128), that is, when it is determined that theposition of the dropped application icon is the position where theapplication icon is not superimposed with the ring, the controller 10invalidates the operation of moving the icon at Step S132. That is, thecontroller 10 returns the dropped application icon to the positiontouched at Step S124, that is, the position of prior to movement. Whenthe operation of moving the icon is invalidated at Step S132, thecontroller 10 proceeds to Step S122.

When it is determined at Step S124 that the gesture is not the touch onthe icon (No at Step S124), the controller 10 determines at Step S134whether the gesture is the setting completion operation. When it isdetermined at Step S134 that the gesture is not the setting completionoperation (No at Step S134), the controller 10 executes the processcorresponding to the detected gesture at Step S136, and proceeds to StepS122. Examples of the process corresponding to the detected gestureinclude processing of adding the application icon to the icon positionsetting screen, display processing of screens displayable on the iconposition setting screen, for example, a help screen, and the like. Whenit is determined at Step S134 that the gesture is the setting completionoperation (Yes at Step S134), the controller 10 determines the displayposition of the icon at Step S138. That is, the controller 10 sets theposition of the application icon, which is displayed on the ring of theicon position setting screen at the time point when the settingoperation is determined as being completed, as the display position ofthe application icon. The controller 10 sets the application icons,which are not displayed on the ring, as icons, which are not displayedon the lock screen. When the display position of the icon is set at StepS138, the controller 10 ends the processing.

As illustrated in FIGS. 21 and 22, the smartphone 1 can adjust thedisplay positions of the application icons, based on the gesture of theuser. Therefore, the application icons can be displayed on the lockscreen in an arrangement that allows the user to use the applicationicons more easily.

In the examples illustrated in FIGS. 21 and 22, when the icon is droppedon the position where the icon is not superimposed on the ring, thesmartphone 1 invalidates the operation of moving the icon. However, evenwhen the icon is dropped on the position where the icon is notsuperimposed on the ring, the smartphone 1 may also change the displayposition of the icon to the dropped position. The smartphone 1 maycontinue the processing of FIG. 22 until the entire application iconsarranged on the lock screen are arranged on the ring. The smartphone 1may set the initial state of the icon position setting screen as a statein which the application icons are automatically arranged on the ring.Thus, the user can arrange the entire application icons on the ring byjust adjusting the positions of the application icons.

The smartphone 1 may allow the use of only the application iconsassociated with the preset applications. That is, the smartphone 1 maydisable the modification of the application icons displayed on the lockscreen.

The embodiment disclosed in the present application can be modifiedwithout departing the gist and the scope of the invention. Moreover, theembodiments and their modifications disclosed in the present applicationcan be combined with each other if necessary. For example, theembodiment may be modified as follows.

For example, the programs illustrated in FIG. 5 may be divided into aplurality of modules, or may be combined with any other program.

In the embodiment, the smartphone has been explained as an example ofthe device provided with the touch screen display; however, the deviceaccording to the appended claims is not limited to the smartphone. Thedevice according to the appended claims may be a mobile electronicdevice other than the smartphone. Examples of the mobile electronicdevices include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, tablets, mobilepersonal computers, digital cameras, media players, electronic bookreaders, navigators, and gaming devices. The device according to theappended claims may be a stationary-type electronic device. Examples ofthe stationary-type electronic devices include, but are not limited to,desktop personal computers, automatic teller machines (ATM), andtelevision receivers.

Although the art of appended claims has been described with respect to aspecific embodiment for a complete and clear disclosure, the appendedclaims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodyingall modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to oneskilled in the art which fairly fall within the basic teaching hereinset forth.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a touch screen display fordisplaying a lock screen including an application icon associated withan application; and a controller for adding an information icon to theapplication icon when there is new information with respect to theapplication.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the controlleris configured to display the number of pieces of the new information onthe information icon.
 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein thecontroller is configured to display the new information on the lockscreen when the application icon, on which the information icon isdisplayed, or the information icon is tapped.
 4. The device according toclaim 1, wherein the touch screen display is configured to display aselection icon on the lock screen, and the controller is configured todisplay the new information on the lock screen when a gesture in whichthe selection icon and the application icon, on which the informationicon is displayed, or the information icon are superimposed is detected.5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the controller is configuredto execute the application associated with the application icon when thegesture is ended in a state where the selection icon and the applicationicon are superimposed.
 6. A method for controlling a device having atouch screen display, the method comprising: displaying a lock screen,including an application icon associated with an application, on thetouch screen display; and adding an information icon to the applicationicon when there is new information with respect to the application. 7.The method according to claim 6, wherein the displaying of theinformation icon comprises displaying the number of pieces of the newinformation on the information icon.
 8. The method according to claim 6,further comprising: displaying the new information on the lock screenwhen the application icon, on which the information icon is displayed,or the information icon is tapped.
 9. The method according to claim 6,further comprising: displaying a selection icon on the lock screen; anddisplaying the new information on the lock screen when a gesture inwhich the selection icon and the application icon, on which theinformation icon is displayed, or the information icon are superimposedis detected.
 10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:executing the application associated with the application icon when thegesture is ended in a state where the selection icon and the applicationicon are superimposed.
 11. A non-transitory storage medium that stores aprogram for causing, when executed by a device having a touch screendisplay, the device to execute: displaying a lock screen, including anapplication icon associated with an application, on the touch screendisplay; and adding an information icon to the application icon whenthere is new information with respect to the application.